Hastings Direct - Police stop after admin error

BooJewels

Naf wrote: »

Indeed, there are other possibilities; going by a recent discussion with my insurer, its possible they could have forced the start of a new 12 month term with the change. Probably less likely with a name like Hastings, but still possible.

You'd think that particular option would at least generate new paperwork to be provided, which doesn't sound like it happened. I recently made a change to my house insurance late in the term and still got written confirmation. So I do wonder if the initial operative simply made a hash of the entire process. I've experienced something similar where I could chalk up a whole slew of resultant issues due to the inattentiveness of one person in one meeting who seriously dropped the ball.

Either way my point is that the figure isn't such that you (someone not involved in the trade) would immediately think it couldn't be right for what you'd requested - it seems a reasonable figure for adding a second car to a policy, I would feel.

Indeed, I'm not a driver, but I asked my [old fogie, so cheap insurance] husband what he'd expect adding a second car to his insurance would cost and he said: "£200-300 per year, less if I added it mid-term and was just paying a portion at the time." So the number certainly sounded in the right ballpark to him.

BooJewels

eddddy wrote: »

You can make a 'Subject Access Request' (or SAR) [...]
See: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-6-rights/subject-access-request/

Thanks for that link eddddy - I knew of SARs, but thought it was a banking industry thing, but this will help me with an issue we have just now. So, off topic, but thanks, that helps me too.

hollie.weimeraner

Start collecting your evidence asap and in the meantime attend the police station with your documents showing your new policy. Unfortunately the person taking the production will have no choice but to either issue a fixed penalty notice or issue a summons to court (not totally sure what the protocol is these days). If you get a fixed penalty ticket you still have the option of choosing a court hearing. You can then produce your evidence at court.
The issue you have is that no insurance is an absolute offence (you are presumed guilty by not having any and it is up to you to prove you have it).
My suggestion would be to see a solicitor though.
Good luck as I think you may need it

Just as an addendum, I am so neurotic about car insurance I always check my car on the MID database to make sure it shows up after renewal.

scooby359

Hi all, thanks so much everyone for all your input! I really appreciate the support and time!

To give an update on it, I've had to leave the insurers with a formal complaint, requesting the letter of indemnity, a copy of the phone call, and refunds of costs etc. They've already verbally refused the indemnity so depending on how long it takes them to give me the formal response, it'll be up to 8 weeks plus time for the ombudsman.

I've managed to get some advice from a solicitor who said to leave the Police producer as we can't provide anything to show insurance was in place. Assuming the complaint drags on for some time, I'm told we'll receive a fixed penalty notice in the post which we've to reject, we'll then get a letter asking for our plea - guilty or not - which we've to reply not guilty, then when it gets to court, explain the situation and ask for an adjournment pending the complaint outcome.

If at some point the complaint comes through and the insurers accept liability, then the case should be dropped as we'll have proof of cover. In the worst case, if the complaint process is exhausted and declined, we've to change plea to guilty and request special reasons using evidence to show that we asked for the vehicle to be added, and so while we don't have insurance, it was accidental and without malice. Hopefully, sentencing will be reduced or waived in that case.

Thanks again for all your support and advice - I'll keep this up to date as things progress for anyone who's interested

BooJewels

scooby359 wrote: »

Thanks again for all your support and advice - I'll keep this up to date as things progress for anyone who's interested

Please do, I'm certainly interested and would love to know how it plays out - with a good outcome I hope. Glad you took legal advice, that must have helped, to give you a plan of action.

I wish you luck with it - it's one of those nightmare scenarios that any of us could fall foul of and you must be going through all kinds of distress right now.

scooby359

BooJewels wrote: »

Glad you took legal advice, that must have helped, to give you a plan of action..

Yep - it was a local solicitors who do free advice clinics. I just phoned to see if I could book an appointment but they rang me back within an hour and explained everything. I've never used a solicitor before so was worried about costs, how much they'd explain, etc, but have to say, they were fantastic, so I'll be going back to them if I ever need a solicitor again!

DCFC79

scooby359 wrote: »

Yep - it was a local solicitors who do free advice clinics. I just phoned to see if I could book an appointment but they rang me back within an hour and explained everything. I've never used a solicitor before so was worried about costs, how much they'd explain, etc, but have to say, they were fantastic, so I'll be going back to them if I ever need a solicitor again!

Thats good you got advice and it was free.

Keep the thread updated with news.

scooby359

Hey all, just providing an update on this issue.

The week that this occurred, I spoke to the insurers five times, at each point saying that it was a complaint and giving very specific expectations of what I wanted to resolve it - letter of indemnity, refund of admin fees, compensation for distress and inconvenience and a copy of the original call recording. I was also given several mixed messages, being told they accepted it was their fault, then being told it was my partner's fault for agreeing with the changes made.

After three weeks, I'd not had anything through regarding the complaint and I'd been promised multiple callbacks which hadn't happened, so I chased them up and challenged them for not having sent an acknowledgement as required under complaint handling regulations. Turned out, of all the people I'd previously spoken to, none had actually logged the complaint.

Eventually, around four weeks after making the complaint, a complaint handler got in touch to confirm the details and what I wanted to resolve it. Within a couple of days, I received another call to say they accepted liability as it was their error and they would provide me with the outcome I had requested with an email to confirm this within two days.

A week later... I've finally received the written response from Hastings upholding the complaint, a letter of indemnity stating that my partner would have been covered by the insurance for the whole period, a refund of the admin charge made when changing the policy and a promise of £150 compensation by cheque within a few days.

We've still not heard anything from the Police or the Courts and I'm not sure how long that will take to come through, but I've emailed the Police to see if we can send the evidence to them or the Courts now to save them processing it further.

So, I've learnt that Hastings are rubbish! From messing up the original request to not taking ownership of the complaint, and not doing what they said they would multiple times. If you ever deal with them, please keep records including call recordings, of everything and check whatever they say.. The FCA complaint timescales would still have applied regardless of them messing up the recording of my complaint, so I could still have gone to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks of making my complaint in Feb.

So, just the Police and Courts to sort now. I'll update again when that's sorted!

ValiantSon

Glad to hear that the insurers have done the right thing and that part of the problem is resolved. I hope things go smoothly with the legal side of things now.

Naf

Excellent news. Hope you manage to get it sorted with the police and courts too!